Mistake-prone Indians fall to Myrtle Beach

Should the Kinston Indians rally their way into second-half contention and fall a game short of the postseason, it might be remembered as the one that got away.

Or, more accurately, the one they gave away.

Michael Fisher's RBI single in the 10th inning followed a two-out error and helped lift Myrtle Beach to a 6-5 win over the hapless Indians at Grainger Stadium on Wednesday.

The game, which began at 11 a.m. as part of Day Care/Day Camp Day, capped a seven-game home stand in which Kinston went 2-5 to open the second half.

To K-Tribe manager Chris Tremie, it was the most frustrating defeat of the young half.

"It's a game that we should've won," the visibly unhappy skipper said.

"Eventually, we're going to have to find a way to come out ahead in those games rather than find a way to lose. That's what we're doing right now."

The Indians (29-46), losers of 19 of their last 25 games, committed two errors, including shortstop Ronald Rivas' boot that led directly to the go-ahead run. They looked downright silly when Lucas Montero hung himself out to dry between third and home on an eighth-inning squeeze play that he called and executed, apparently without telling anybody.

The K-Tribe carried a 5-2 lead into the seventh inning, but three Myrtle Beach relievers conspired to hold the Indians hitless and scoreless over the final 4 1/3 innings.

"It's certainly not how we wanted to finish (the home stand)," Kinston center fielder Tim Fedroff, who went 1-for-5, whispered in a silent clubhouse. "We just made some mistakes at the end of the game and some plays didn't go our way and we lost the game. It hurts."

Right-hander Lance Broadway (2-7) pitched two hitless innings of relief to earn the win. Tommy Palica, a left-hander, made quick work of the flatlined Indians in the 10th for his sixth save.

In the fifth, veteran first baseman Ole Sheldon hit his first homer since joining Kinston on June 18. The solo shot gave the K-Tribe a 4-2 lead.

The game reached a crossroads in the seventh when the Indians, leading 5-4 with a chance to break it open, put runners on second and third with one out. But with the infield drawn in and the tension high, Pelicans reliever Greg Kimbrel struck out Roman Pena and got Rivas to ground out to short, where Chad Lundahl ranged to his left and made a tough play to keep the visitors in it.

The Pelicans (4-3, 29-45), right on cue, tied it at 5-5 an inning later on Lundahl's RBI single.

Fisher's game-winner in the 10th followed a one-out double by Jesus Sucre and a routine slow roller to short off the bat of Lundahl with two outs. The normally sure-handed Rivas charged and came up empty, putting runners at the corners.

Fisher, hitting ninth in the order, yanked a 2-0 pitch from reliever Jonathan Holt (1-3) down the right field line for a single to drive in the unearned winning run.

"We kept plugging away," said Myrtle Beach manager Rocket Wheeler, who praised the work of his bullpen and relished getting above the .500 mark in the second half.

"It's the jump-start we needed. The bottom of the order picked up today, and that's what we need to do to keep rolling."

The reeling Indians, meanwhile, roll into Wilmington, Del., for a four-game series beginning today. They'll return to Grainger Stadium, where they are 15-26, for a three-game set against Frederick beginning Tuesday.

First, they hit the road with a sour taste in their mouths. Montero's would-be squeeze, which occurred with one out after a sacrifice bunt got him to third, was the result of a "miscommunication," Tremie said. The skipper stared Montero down from the third base coach's box as he slowly left the field.

The play was symptomatic of a late-game lull by a team that needs every win it can get.

"We didn't play well from the seventh inning on," Tremie said. "We made several key mistakes and a couple of errors. We didn't deserve to win the way we played, but we should've won the game." 

BUNTS: The Indians have a losing record against every team in the Carolina League except Myrtle Beach, against whom they are 8-4. ... The first six games of the second half lasted an average of 3 hours, 20 minutes. Wednesday's game took 3:39. ... Recent Kinston addition Mike McGuire made a piggy-back start with Bryce Stowell. McGuire went four innings and Stowell went three. ... The announced attendance was 1,969. ... Montero stole four bases.

David Hall can be reached at (252) 559-1086 or at dhall@freedomenc.com.